Making Unpopular Decisions

It is so easy to follow the crowd; to do what appears to be the next step in the natural course of things; to do what is expected of you. What isn’t easy is taking a step back from the situation to evaluate, and realizing that this isn’t what you want, and doing something about it.

When you make unpopular decisions, you can throw your loved ones and friends through a loop, and they are likely to have an opinion on the situation one way or another. It can be really hard when family and friends don’t agree with your decision and don’t support you.

When I broke up with my ex-boyfriend all those years ago, it was a real trying time. When I realized we weren’t meant to be, I basically crumbled. What do I do? We had been together for four years, had spoken about marriage (at least as an ideal outcome), and were very close to each other’s families. Who were we without each other? And therein lies a huge issue. When you lose your self-definition, it can be hard to even recognize a situation isn’t right until it’s too late.

Lucky for me, and for him, it wasn’t too late, but I was going to need the support of my family and friends to get through the situation. And when I told the people close to me what was going on, I got a surprising reaction. I got support from people I didn’t expect support from, and even stranger, I didn’t get support from the people I was closest to at the time. The people who knew me before the relationship were able to picture me without him, while those who only met me when we were together couldn’t see us apart.

The people in my life showed their true colors at that time. It all helped me on my journey back to being true to who I am.

There are some people who can’t handle change; there are some people who have lose sight of who they are at the core; there are some people whose opinion once mattered. But when it comes to being true to who you are, the people who support you in making the tough decisions are the ones to pay attention to.